It’s
hard to believe we are already in week 5 of this music technology course! This
week we are discussing and learning about aspects of lesson planning that can
actually be applied to any courses we are teaching. This week’s Power Point discussed
a lot about planning that really hit home to me. I am comfortable with the
familiar, with routine; thinking out of the box and doing things differently
are not my forte. I had never really
thought of this as NOT planning, but rather, having a familiar plan.
However, our lesson this week
brought up several good points: 1) Teachers assume that textbooks, teacher
manuals, and choral selections are all of the materials we need, and 2) Most
teachers have taught the same way with the same lessons for years. To get more
to the point: we get comfortable. And when we get comfortable, we get
complacent. We think that what we are doing is working, when in fact it’s only
working for us, not the students.
Teachers need to get back to basics
and lesson plans are a great way to do that. By creating a lesson beforehand,
it allows us to think through the teaching and learning processes. It also
gives us the time to think of creative ways to present the lesson, rather than
trying to teach something ad lib.
There are multiple benefits to having lesson plans established: they ensure
that what the students are learning matters, they allow the teacher to connect
lessons together, they ensure that assessments and objectives are being met,
and they can address deficiencies in the teaching and curriculum.
Another point that was addressed in
the lesson this week was creative lesson planning. This brings me back to a
point I made at the beginning of this post – I am not good with thinking out of
the box. That being said, I realize that it’s necessary in order to be an
effective teacher, and it’s something I consistently strive to be better at.
One reason I am enjoying this course so much is learning about the different
technology programs that exist, and that I will be able to incorporate into
future lessons. Music technology is not something that has been a major part of
my teaching in the past, but with every new program we learn about, I think of
an awesome project or lesson that I think would be enjoyable for my students.
I encourage every teacher to take
the time to learn about what’s out there that can enhance the lessons that you
already teach. We never know what might get through to our students.
Danel - I really liked your point about how many teachers get comfortable, leading to getting complacent, which leads to teacher centered learning instead of student centered learning. I came to a very similar realization this week. I began to use the excuse that since music is never the same each day, that not making lesson plans was acceptable, but really, I was falling directly into the pitfall that you discussed. I also feel like making lesson plans isn't "fun" and therefore avoid it. Using WebQuest this week reinvigorated my lesson planning and helped make it a little more "fun" again. This also ties in with your final point about enhancing each lesson when you can! Thanks for your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteDanel - I feet the total opposite when it comes to my lessons... I have to think outside the box. I hate following the books and teacher guides and just want to do it my own way. I don't know why, I just always have :-)
ReplyDeleteSince my school system requires us to meet as professional learning communities, I love to take the gist of the ideas my cohorts discuss and make them my own. Though truthfully, I hate writing formal lesson plans! I am looking forward to doing the WebQuest project and let me know if you want somes out-of-the box ideas! Great post :-)